CSS-Tricks is a trusted front-end development resource. It's been online for 19 years, has a strong reputation in the developer community, and its technical setup is solid. You can confidently use it for learning and reference.
Cross-referenced 48 live signals from Google Safe Browsing, VirusTotal, WHOIS and more on Oct 28, 2026.How we score →
Where the score comes from
We look at six areas. Here's how css-tricks.com did in each.
90
Security
Modern encryption (TLS 1.3), a valid Let's Encrypt certificate, and strong browser protections against clickjacking and downgrade attacks. No malware, phishing, or blacklist flags. This is a well-protected site.
75
Identity
The domain is 19 years old — a strong longevity signal. Ownership is hidden behind a privacy service, which is normal for individuals and many small businesses since GDPR. There's no named company or verified certificate identity, but the site's long history and consistent branding provide reasonable confidence in who runs it.
95
Reputation
CSS-Tricks has been around since 2007, with a rich Wayback Machine history and steady high engagement on Hacker News over nearly two decades. It holds a solid global traffic rank. No blacklists or threat feeds flag it. This is an established, well-regarded resource.
80
Transparency
The site has an About page, a contact page with a domain-branded email, and links to five social media profiles. The homepage clearly states its purpose and founding year. For a learning community and blog, this level of openness is more than adequate.
85
Compliance
Privacy policy and terms of service are present. For a content-and-education site that doesn't process payments or sensitive data directly (memberships go through WordPress.com), these satisfy normal expectations. There's no cookie consent banner visible, but many legitimate US-based blogs don't use one for basic analytics.
85
Infrastructure
DNS resolves reliably with four IPs behind Cloudflare's CDN. Email authentication is properly configured with SPF and strict DMARC, preventing spoofing. DNSSEC isn't enabled, but that's a common omission even on legitimate sites. Fast load time and a proper sitemap indicate professional maintenance.
What we checked
The 48 signals behind this report.
Security & Transport
Certificate Issuer: Neutral
Let's Encrypt
Certificate issued by Let's Encrypt
Clickjacking Protection: Good
Present
X-Frame-Options: SAMEORIGIN
Google Web Risk: Good
Clean
No threats detected by Google Web Risk
HSTS Header: Good
Present
Site enforces HTTPS via HSTS
Legacy TLS: Neutral
Accepted
Server still accepts TLS 1.0/1.1 from clients that ask for them, which CDNs such as Cloudflare allow by default. Browsers stopped offering these versions in 2020, so visitors connect with TLS 1.2 or later
Protective DNS: Neutral
Not blocked
Cloudflare's malware-blocking resolver (1.1.1.2) answered normally for this domain. These resolvers refuse domains their threat intelligence lists for malware or phishing, and a scam only days old often isn't listed yet. Quad9 gave no usable answer.
SSL Certificate: Good
Valid
Valid certificate, expires in 75 days
Search Cloaking: Neutral
Not detected
Neither a visitor arriving from a Google search nor Google's crawler was sent elsewhere or shown spam that a direct visit wasn't. Cloaking that checks the visitor's network address can't be seen from our server.
Security Headers: Good
4 of 6
Site sets multiple security response headers: HSTS, X-Frame-Options, X-Content-Type-Options, Referrer-Policy
Server: Neutral
cloudflare
Web server: cloudflare
TLS Version: Good
TLS 1.3
Connection uses TLS 1.3
Identity & WHOIS
About Page: Good
Found
Site publishes an About / Team / Company page — a transparency signal that the operator is willing to describe who runs the business.
Branding: Good
Complete
Site has custom branding and social media metadata
Business Disclosure: Neutral
Not found
No dedicated legal-entity disclosure page detected — common and expected outside the EU, but required for commercial sites in Germany, France, Spain, Italy, and other EU jurisdictions.
Contact Info: Good
Found
Homepage has a contact page link and an email address on the site's own domain
Domain Age: Good
19 years, 3 months
Domain created 2007-07-04 (19 years, 3 months ago)
Domain Expiry: Neutral
2033-07-04
Expires in 2440 days
Legal Pages: Good
Privacy & Terms found
Website has both privacy policy and terms of service pages
Registrant: Neutral
Privacy protected
The registration shows a privacy service or redaction notice in place of the owner. Most registrars do this by default since GDPR (2018), for companies as well as individuals, so it hides nothing unusual.
Registrar: Neutral
Tucows Domains Inc.
Registered through Tucows Domains Inc.
Infrastructure & DNS
CDN: Good
Cloudflare
Site is served behind Cloudflare — indicates real operational investment in edge infrastructure
DMARC Record: Good
p=reject
Domain enforces strict DMARC — unauthenticated mail is rejected
DNS Blacklists: Neutral
Clean
Not listed by SpamCop and Barracuda, the blacklists that answered
DNS Resolution: Good
4 IP(s)
Resolves to: 2a06:98c1:3121::2, 2a06:98c1:3120::2, 188.114.96.2, 188.114.97.2
DNSSEC: Neutral
Not enabled
Domain is not signed with DNSSEC
DNSSEC: Neutral
unsigned
DNSSEC status from WHOIS
Email (MX Records): Good
5 record(s)
Mail servers: aspmx.l.google.com., alt2.aspmx.l.google.com., alt1.aspmx.l.google.com., alt3.aspmx.l.google.com., alt4.aspmx.l.google.com.
Hosting Network (ASN): Neutral
AS13335 CLOUDFLARENET
Hosted on: AS13335 CLOUDFLARENET (US)
Name Servers: Neutral
2 server(s)
DNS providers: naomi.ns.cloudflare.com., theo.ns.cloudflare.com.
Page Load Time: Neutral
190ms
Fast page load, timed once from our server in Europe including the DNS lookup, connection setup and any redirects
Platform: Neutral
WordPress
Site is built on WordPress
SPF Record: Good
Present
Domain has SPF email authentication configured
Reputation & Reach
Hacker News: Good
100+ stories since 2009
Hacker News readers upvoted links to this site in 17 different years between 2009 and 2026. The most upvoted, "DigitalOcean acquires CSS-tricks" (2022), got 825 points.
Open Graph Type: Neutral
website
og:type declared as website
Page Description: Neutral
CSS-Tricks is where folks around the world come to learn about front-end code and everything related to it, including HT...
CSS-Tricks is where folks around the world come to learn about front-end code and everything related to it, including HTML, CSS, and yes, CSS.
Page Heading: Neutral
CSS-Tricks is a learning community about all things front-end development
Page Language: Neutral
en
HTML declares lang="en"
Page Title: Neutral
CSS-Tricks - Learning for front-end designers and developers
Schema Description: Neutral
A learning community for front-end design and development
Schema Name: Neutral
CSS-Tricks
Sitemap: Good
142 pages
Site maintains a proper sitemap with 142 indexed pages
Social Media Presence: Good
5 platforms
Homepage links to profiles on Facebook, X, LinkedIn, Bluesky, Mastodon
Structured Data: Good
Found
Site uses structured data identifying itself as: Organization, WebSite
Tranco Rank: Good
Rank #10601
This site has moderate global traffic
Web Archive History: Good
19 years
Earliest archive snapshot from 20070909
Website Status: Good
Online
Website is live and responding
Wikidata Entry: Neutral
CSS-Tricks — website
Wikidata lists this site as the item's official website, but no Wikipedia article covers the item. Anyone can add a Wikidata item, so on its own this says little.
robots.txt: Good
Present
robots.txt has 41 directives and references a sitemap
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CSS-Tricks has been a go-to resource for front-end developers since 2007. Unlike fly-by-night tutorial sites that pop up and vanish, CSS-Tricks has built a lasting reputation through consistent, high-quality content and active community engagement. Our analysis shows a technically sound site with modern security, a clear contact path, and an extensive history preserved in the Wayback Machine going back nearly two decades.
For anyone asking 'is css-tricks.com a scam' — the answer is a clear no. It's a legitimate educational platform with a well-known brand in web development circles. The site doesn't ask for sensitive personal data beyond optional memberships processed through WordPress.com, a trusted third party. There are no red flags like stolen content, fake reviews, or suspicious redirects. If you're a developer looking for reliable tutorials on HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, this is exactly the kind of resource you can trust without hesitation.